"Hey, Twilight, what's the matter?", asked Spike the dragon. His mentor and best friend, Twilight Sparkle, sighed and hung her head low.
The newly ascended alicorn tried to force a smile and straightened up as she put down her new crown on the table of her bedchamber.
"I am not sure, Spike. Maybe it's because last time I was in this room Sunset Shimmer stole my crown. Granted, it was also symbolizing the Element of Magic and therefore a powerful artifact and this crown is just... well, a crown. Or maybe, actually, more likely, it's the experiment tomorrow. I am pretty sure I did all the calculations right, but how sure can a pony be about that anyway? What if the whole thing collapses or causes an explosion that destroys half of Canterlot? What if nothing happens and the portal remains closed forever?"
She started pacing up and down the room nervously, a few strands of hair sticking out of her mane at weird angles. Spike recognized the signs immediately. It was about time he stopped Twilight before the stress got the better of her.
"Come on, Twilight, you are a princess now and everypony knows that you took care of all of the factors. Princess Celestia trusts you, remember? Even if something went wrong, she and Princess Luna will be there to make sure nopony gets hurt, right?"
The alicorn stopped pacing and took a deep breath. The she smiled at Spike.
"Right. I'll try and keep that in mind. I will still keep the crown here, just in case." She took the crown into her magic and locked it inside a chest that stood next to her bed.
"There. Now that this is done, let's try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a long day."
"With pleasure", said Spike. He was already pretty tired after the train trip to Canterlot. This was the third time for Twilight to come here without her friends, only her Number One Assistant, Spike, had the time to accompany her. Most of the day Spike had been busy helping Twilight in the Royal Library, getting all the books for her from the shelves, refilling the ink and asking the Castle staff to get her food and drinks while she worked on a new formula on the magic mirror portal Princess Celestia had shown her weeks ago.
It had bugged her that the portal only opened to one world, and only for a limited time. A new challenge was what Twilight needed right now. She had grown more and more tense and Spike knew that she needed answers to her questions.
The quest for the six keys had been put on hold for a while. It was Applebucking Season which meant that Applejack was busy on the farm and Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie seemed extremely eager to help her with the cider-making... but, as Twilight had said yesterday, "the mystery of the portal still needs further investigaton."
But not today. Spike yawned and climbed into the basket provided for him as Twilight turned off the light.
"I don't know what I would do without you, Spike", she said as she stretched and struggled to get her wings to fit under the blanket. "Sleep well, my dear Number One Assistant."
Spike did not answer. He was already snoring.